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Basketball betting can be a minefield, with any team capable of worrying the very best in each division on their day. Both the Celtics and the Lakers dominated last season’s competition and proceeded to take part in one of the most enthralling championship series you’re ever likely to see.
The pair are again suitably high in the outright market, though have shown signs that they may not be as ‘all powerful’ as they first appeared. Boston have only recently recovered from a four game losing streak which saw them fall to third in the Eastern Conference, and LA have dropped arguably clumsy points at home. Cleveland have a perfect home record for the season and have seen their odds of outright success cut to 5/1, but they’re essentially a one-man outfit. I wouldn’t be confident that LeBron James can maintain his level of form sufficiently well to carry the team to NBA glory.
The team that continues to impress is Orlando, who moved up to second (ahead of Boston) in the Eastern Conference yesterday after a demolition of Sacramento. Only they and Cleveland have percentages to match those of Boston and LA, and why they are currently priced at 20/1 is beyond me. They don’t have standout scorers of the likes of James, Pierce, Bryant or Wade, but are capable of performances inclusive of all their players. Progression to the playoffs looks certain (although it is some way off at the moment).
Orlando Magic outright @ 20/1 (3 points)
Boston Celtics outright @ 11/4 (1 point saver)- Total Posts 17716
Orlando continued their rapid progression with a 109-103 victory at the Lakers yesterday evening, and have now been cut to a best-price 12/1 in the outright NBA market.
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Tonight I’ll be backing:
ORLANDO MAGIC vs Denver Nuggeys @ Evens
San Antonio Spurs vs CHICAGO BULLS @ 5/4
MILWAUKEE BUCKS vs L A Clippers @ 8/13The Orlando Magic end their run of four straight away games with a trip to the free-scoring Nuggets tonight and I’m struggling to understand why the home side are marginal favourites for this contest. Orlando notched their sixth straight victory when beating the Lakers in Los Angeles yesterday evening and again proved that their defense is just as capable as their offense. Whilst Denver aren’t averse to rattling up totals in excess of 105, they often leave themselves open on the return and the Magic juggernaut will punish them.
San Antonio are a team I follow closely and whilst they’re a far more consistent outfit than Chicago their defensive frailties have been exposed more than ever this season. Even Tim Duncan has been quoted as saying that they’re not up to scratch on defense and, whilst they’re capable of outpointing their opponents at any time, this has to be a genuine worry. The Bulls wouldn’t represent any sort of betting certainty at the best of times but against a reeling Spurs, on the back of an over-time victory over Cleveland yesterday, they could prove up to the task.
What can I say about the Clippers? They have had, by any standards, an awful season thus far and face off against a Bucks team fresh from a pulsating victory in Sacramento. With the Los Angeles side on a run of twelve straight losses, and Milwaukee quick out of the blocks, 8/13 about a baker’s dozen doesn’t seem at all bad.
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I have to say that I’ve had better nights, but it was pleasing to see Orlando maintaining their form with an authoritative victory in Denver. The advised 20/1 about them in the outright market is looking better by the day.
The only other game (Phoenix are currently edging a high scoring contest in Toronto) tonight sees Miami travel to the struggling Oklahoma City, and despite my reservations about their ability to win on the road ‘the Heat’ have to get the nod.
MIAMI HEAT vs Oklahoma City Thunder @ 18/19
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An 11-point lead going into the fourth quarter afforded Miami a comfortable final twelve minutes, ultimately running out 104-94 winners.
Selections: 4
Winners: 2
LSP: -£0.05Best of luck with this Equitrack – have to admit basketball doesn’t do it for me so won’t be participating too much on this thread
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Orlando are now into 10/1 in the outright NBA market following an impressive 99-88 victory over Eastern Conference rivals the Cleveland Cavaliers, having briefly drifted out to 16/1 after home defeat to the Celtics.
Boston remain solid at 11/4 despite an eye-catching run of nine consecutive victories, which have included a number of powerful first-half performances. The Lakers, by comparison, are far too short.
I’ll be back later with a view on tonight’s games.
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I’m in what can be best decribed as a ‘foul mood’ following Liverpool’s defeat to Everton, so I’ll try and cheer myself up with a financial interest in tonight’s NBA action.
The Pistons and the Hornets both represent fair accumulator selections at reasonable odds of 8/15 and 4/6 respectively, but the two games to concentrate on are New Jersey’s visit to Washington, and Dallas’s home tie against Portland.
Dallas return to the American Airlines Centre on the back of an impressive victory in Orlando and seek to extend their winning run to four. A field-throw percentage of 53.9% against the Magic saw them establish a 20 point lead before finally closing out a 105-95 win, and Portland look vulnerable to an offensive unit in top shape. The Trailblazers have hit a run of their own, notching up five straight and coming from ten behind in the final quarter against Utah, but they’ve lost their last four games in Dallas by an average of 17.0 points and don’t have the statistics in their favour.
Dallas look over-priced at 4/7.
Washington succumbed to a less than inspiring Memphis offense last time in what has been described as one of their worst losses in recent memory. Confidence is low, and a New Jersey team with a road record of 12-12 could be poised to take advantage. Seven defeats in eight matches looked to have the Nets sliding away from a playoff place, but a gritty display against the (in form) 76ers and a comfortable victory over Milwaukee have steadied the ship. They outrank the Wizards in almost every department and couldnt be visiting at a better time.
Anything around 5/4 is incredible.
NEW JERSEY NETS vs Washington Wizards @ 5/4 (3 points)
Portland Trailblazers vs DALLAS MAVERICKS @ 4/7 (5 points)NETS/MAVERICKS double @ 3.47 (2 points)
I think I’ll follow your advice and do a 4-fold acca on the 4 teams you mentioned
And as regards Liverpool, would you rather they had lost to Chelsea at the weekend and beaten Everton tonight?
Thought not!
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You’re a brave man, David, following my advice
Obviously, given the choice, I’d rather have beaten Chelsea than Everton, but that doesn’t detract from the fact that Benitez has again shown himself to be tactically (and politically) naive. Andrea Dossena and Lucas Leiva are two of the worst players to have represented Liverpool for quite some time – alongside the likes of Kromkamp, Josemi, Zenden, Garcia, Nunez, Pellegrino and Voronin – but Rafa won’t admit that he’s made (more) appalling transfer decisions in light of recent events surrounding Robbie Keane.
He’s lost the plot, simple as that, and it was only another fortunate red card (the turnaround in the games against Middlesborough, Wigan and Manchester City only came about because of red cards) which saw us home against Chelsea.
The sooner he’s gone, the better.
If your accumulator comes in tonight, David, perhaps you can buy the club and sack Benitez for me!
If I win tonight, I’ll only have enough to drown my sorrows after Nottingham Forest lost 3-2 to arch-enemies Derby having been 2-0 up at home after 14mins. To make matters worse, a home tie against Man Utd was the prize!
And this following on from last season when a defeat away to lowly Luton Town in the 2nd round cost the club a home tie against Liverpool in the 3rd round. I think there was something like 30+ places separating Forest & Luton at the time.
I curse my parents for letting me stay up far too late to watch the European Cup a couple of times when I was a nipper!
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New Jersey came from behind to demolish Washington, finally winning 115-88, and Dallas staved off a valiant Portland comeback to run out 104-99 victors.
On the night:
Total stake:
10 points
Total return:
21.67 points
Profit:
11.67 points
Overall:
Recommended bets:
7
Winners:
5
Profit (to recommended stakes):
11.62 points
LSP:
£4.30
Unfortunately, David, New Orleans failed to match the efforts of Detroit and were, quite frankly, embarassed by a none-too-inspiring Chicago outfit. Hopefully you decided against the four-fold and went with the recommended double.
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Tonight’s action isn’t, in all honesty, likely to set the world alight, but there look to be a couple of fair betting opportunities.
The struggling Toronto Raptors, on a losing run of five games, travel to Memphis to face off against an equally unequipped Grizzlies team. The statistics say that the away side have the ammunition to be able to capitalise on their hosts’ slow-starting, out-ranking their first choice five in almost every respect, but performances across the last five games suggest otherwise. Renewed by a change in management, Memphis have to recover from a thumping home defeat by the Clippers last night, but their opponents’ 358 mile journey from New Orleans (on the back of a fifth straight loss yesterday) could give them the edge.
The 20/21 available is just about right.
New Jersey play host to a Nuggets side currently sitting third in the Western Conference and, on the face of things, could be set to struggle. However, both teams recently competed against the Wizards in Washington and it has to be said that the Nets offense was by far the more impressive. A home record of 10-14 doesn’t inspire complete confidence, but having rested yesterday evening they could be ideally placed to stave off the attentions of an ambitious Denver outfit. They travel to Orlando tomorrow for what will be a difficult game and they’ll be all out to go there having won tonight.
Following their recent performances, 6/5 about the home team is generous.
Denver at Milwaukee is a potential disaster zone in terms of betting, but I get the feeling the Bucks are capable of controlling an indifferent Pistons offense. The away side arrive in poor form, having struggled throughout January, and maintain a better win percentage than Milwaukee by virtue of the fact that they’ve played fewer games. On the road they’re vulnerable, and whilst the Bucks aren’t the sort of team you want to risk too much on, their tight rebound game could prove fruitful.
The Bucks’ 31/20 is too big.
Denver Nuggets vs NEW JERSEY NETS @ 6/5
Toronto Raptors vs MEMPHIS GRIZZLIES @ 20/21 (3 points)
Detroit Pistons vs MILWAUKEE BUCKS @ 31/20NETS/GRIZZLIES/BUCKS treble @ 10.94
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Almost the perfect evening.
The Nets proved completely dominant in destroying the Nuggets by 44 points, running out impressive 114-70 winners, and the Grizzlies overcame early inconsistency to hand Toronto an 8 point beating in a low-scoring affair in Memphis.
Unfortunately, Milwaukee couldn’t follow suit. The home side trailed Detroit by 9 points going into the second half, but were 3 points to the good at the start of the fourth quarter. The Pistons took the game to overtime where they proved just the stronger, clambering to a 126-121 victory.
On the night:
Total stake:
6 points
Total return:
8.05 points
Profit:
2.05 points
Overall:
Recommended bets:
11
Winners:
7
Profit (to recommended stakes):
13.72 points
LSP:
£4.45
OK fella why not. I just put a min stake on Orlando on betfair at 15.5. Lets see how it pans out. Im in your hands!
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Having now backed both Boston and Orlando I won’t be investing any more in the outright market, so will concentrate solely on the regular season which still has some way to go. I would hope, by the time the play-offs come around, that the profit column makes for such pleasant reading that I can sit back and enjoy the road to the championship.
Tonight’s games don’t look to favour the punter, with short-priced favourites in all but the Golden State and Detroit matches, but there could be some mileage in opposing Portland at 1/4.
They host a New York Knicks side who, in their last three home games, have faced the Lakers, Cavaliers and Celtics. Despite failing to register a victory in that time, it can’t be denied that they performed with great credit (they didn’t lose by more than ten points in any of the three games) and can be forgiven their submission of 113 points to Kobe Bryant (61) and LeBron James (52).
Prior to that the Knicks had won six of their last seven games, their only loss coming at the hands of the flying 76ers. They seem some how renewed and, whilst an on the road record of 7-16 doesn’t fill me with confidence, they are more than capable of outscoring a generally reliable home side.
NEW YORK KNICKS vs Portland Trailblazers @ 11/4
NEW YORK KNICKS (+7.5) vs Portland Trailblazers @ 9/10 (2 points)
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